Indian team lost 2-4 to Australia in the second hockey test, trailed 0-2 in the series.

Perth. The Indian men’s hockey team, despite performing better than the previous match, lost 2-4 to Australia in the second Test of the five-match series here on Sunday. India had to face 1-5 defeat in the first Test on Saturday. The visiting team played an equal game against the strong rival team in the first and second quarters of the match. In fact, till the first half the Indian team was leading 2-1. But they had to bear the brunt of poor defense in the third quarter as the hosts scored three goals to secure their second consecutive win.

For Australia, Jeremy Hayward (6th and 34th minute) converted two penalty corners while Jacob Anderson (42nd minute) and Nathan Eframs (45th minute) scored field goals. For India, Jugraj Singh (ninth minute) and captain Harmanpreet Singh (30th minute) scored on the penalty corner. The Indian team made a fast start, but Australia took the lead in the sixth minute thanks to Hayward’s first penalty corner.

Indian goalkeeper Krishna Bahadur Pathak started in place of experienced PR Sreejesh. He could not stop Hayward’s powerful drag flick which put the hosts 1–0 ahead. After this the Australian team became aggressive and they won consecutive penalty corners soon after. But the Indian defense stood firm. Indian players gradually started tightening their grip on the match and started putting pressure on the Australian defence. Due to which India won three consecutive penalty corners, but the first two went in vain. But in the third, Jugraj equalized the team in the ninth minute. Now the confident Indian team came close to doubling the lead in the 12th minute thanks to Abhishek but his shot hit the cross bar.

In the second quarter, the Indian defense did not waver under the pressure from Australia. Just 41 seconds before the first half, India got a penalty corner and captain Harmanpreet made no mistake in scoring the 180th goal of her career, which helped the team take a 2-1 lead. After falling behind by one goal, the Australian team was stunned and dominated India by scoring three goals. In the fourth minute of the third quarter, Australia got a penalty corner and Hayward scored his second goal of the match to level the score at 2-2.

Indian players failed to match the Australian players for the second consecutive day. Australia maintained constant pressure which the Indian defense could not withstand. Anderson scored in the 42nd minute with the help of Matt Dawson and Jack Welch. The Indian players won two more penalty corners a few minutes later but Harmanpreet failed to make a dent in the opposition defence. There were only a few seconds left in the third quarter when Eframs scored to make the score 4-2. In the fourth quarter, both teams continued their efforts to score goals. But no one could succeed. The third Test of this series, which is being organized for the preparations for the Paris Olympics, will be played on April 10.

Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.

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